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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

[b]Yes, actually, people are saying that here.  They are saying parents' opinions are wrong because parents aren't "experts" in education.[/b]  But I have not seen a good basis in research or logic for many of the things MCPS is doing these days.  I most certainly AM an expert in social science research, so I can certainly judge that quite well.  And the notion that you have to have an ed degree, or be a teacher, to know that giving Ipads to kindergarteners, or teaching math primarily through word problems when kids are still learning to read and write, or, for that matter, removing the emphasis on handwriting at all, and removing acceleration (I could go on, of course) is wrongheaded.  If you can show me something compelling that says otherwise, then I'm happy to read it.  I'd love to feel better about this situation.  But simply saying "well, parents aren't experts, leave it to the experts" doesn't fly.  These "experts" don't seem to have a great handle on their "expertise". 
Your analogy to the electrician or plumber isn't logical.  As a reasonably educated person, I can certainly say "Hm, the electrician used to use grounded sockets for our kitchen appliances, and these new outlets aren't grounded.  That seems fishy.  I'm going to look into that.  Hmmm.., let's see, this copy of the electrical code says we should have grounded sockets for all appliances.  I better mention that to the electrician, and if he acts defensive about it, I'd better get a different electrician."
That's much more analogous.  [/quote]

Who has said that, and what have they said it about?

The PP (I don't know if it was you or somebody else) who started this discussion about what parents know about teaching said, "If school A has one or two teachers actively engaging the whole class for 45 minutes a subject, teaching and challenging then all with a topic that is considerably more value add than school Z that has a teacher engage the class for 15 minutes and then tell the students to figure it out in groups while she walks around and helps the bottom. "

Now, you are an expert in social science research. That means that you can look up the research on this. That PP's model of ideal teaching seems to be a teacher showing the whole class what to do and asking the whole class questions about it. Is that an effective way to teach? What does the research show about this method of teaching vs. letting students work on problems in small groups? We don't have to rely on parents' opinions about this. There is research.

Then there are also teachers' opinions, which are still opinions, but at least the informed opinions of people who have actually taught (as opposed to the uninformed opinions of non-teacher parents, who haven't).

The general feeling on DCUM seems to be that teachers are stupid, and teaching isn't all that hard anyway. If I came along and said, "Good grief, those social scientists, always using my tax dollars to come up with new studies that contradict the previous studies (or, alternatively, studies that demonstrate what everybody already knew), how hard can social science research be anyway, I could do better than that", what would your response be? Would you agree that public accountability is a good thing and that I am qualified to judge your methods and results?[/quote]

Yes, of COURSE I would agree with that.  People can, and should, question the work and results of people doing work that directly affects them.  Would you say that people shouldn't question the work of economists?  "Oh, the Fed raised interest rates!  Well, I guess they know best, since I'm not an expert."  No, that's not how the world works.  People try to inform themselves and people do form opinions.  I'm not the PP who advocated one teacher in front of the classroom.  I was responding to the person whose response to that was to say that parent's aren't experts.  Your notion that parents are "uninformed" is a problem.  Sure, some are.  But most around here aren't.  And, honestly, the difference in education and experience level between me (a person who is NOT a teacher, but has taught at the college level and tutored at the elementary level) and a 3rd year teacher, is just not that great.  I think I (and most parents around here) am capable of gleaning roughly what's going on in my kid's classroom, and using common sense to discern whether there is a basis for it or not.  Often, we ask the teachers, and there is no answer.
I'm not in the camp that treats teachers like they're stupid.  But I reject the usual response to that that "teachers know best".  The truth is in the middle.  Most teachers are trying hard and probably do a pretty good job.  But most parents are capable of understanding the basics of teaching and noticing when things aren't being done well.
Would you tell a parent they're not expert enough to know that a teacher isn't doing it right when the teacher isn't implementing the terms of an IEP (a situation that occurs not infrequently in MCPS, as I'm sure you know).  NO, right?  So, at what point to you acknowledge that in some (many) instances, the parent is the person in the best position to judge what ought to be happening in the classroom for his/her child?
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